Study Throws Light On Bone Loss Resulting From Weight Loss Surgeries
Date: 23rd September 2008
A specific study that has been approved for publication in The Endocrine Society's “Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM)” makes it apparent that on occasions, surgeries undertaken for facilitating weight loss also become a cause for bone loss as well as calcium and vitamin D shortage. The co-author of the study, Dr. Shonni J. Silverberg, who is also a professor of medicine at Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons in New York, maintains that gastric bypass surgery results in deficiency of Vitamin D and calcium absorption. However, she also makes it apparent that while undertaking analysis of hip bone density, she and her team have found out that the people who lost the most weight, have undergone the highest amount of bone loss.
To initiate the experiment, Dr. Shonni J. Silverberg and her colleagues enrolled 23 men and women who are victims of morbid obesity and have undergone gastric bypass surgery. After recruiting these individuals for experimentation, the researchers measured the bone mineral density before as well as after surgery by utilizing the dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA). Altogether, the researchers measured the vitamin D, parathyroid hormone and serum calcium levels before surgery and also at three, six and twelve months after the completion of the surgery.
However, as soon as the experiment came to a close, it became evident that one year after opting for weight loss surgery, the patients had undergone a considerable reduction in hip bone mineral density, including the total femoral neck as well as hip measurements and had also lost an amount of 99 pounds.
Pertaining to the specific results obtained from this experiment, Dr. Shonni J. Silverberg states that these studies throw light on the importance of evaluating skeletal health and calcium sufficiency among individuals undergoing these surgeries. However, she also adds that other specific studies are also necessary to be undertaken to evaluate how these findings are associated with fracture risk and bone quality.
Source: The Endocrine Society |
